From emergence to maturity: contextually embedded resource mobilization in social enterprises

This study examines how resources are mobilized by social enterprises, in day-to-day activities, across different stages of development. Based on an abductive qualitative analysis of 25 in-depth case studies in two different institutional contexts of social entrepreneurship (France and Tunisia), findings show that resource mobilization involves a combination of three entrepreneurial logics: bricolage, effectuation, and causation. The use of these practices varies across developmental stages, with effectuation predominating during emergence and bricolage becoming more salient during growth and maturity, contributing to organizational consolidation and long-term viability. The study also allows the extension of new types of practices of bricolage, such as intellectual bricolage. Last, it implies that practices of resource acquisition at different growth stages of the venture may also vary across national institutional contexts of social entrepreneurship.